So far, so good with our Giants. I love having these games to look forward to and last night we beat the Astros after winning the series in Cincinnati. I'm starting to learn the names of the new players and listening to our old favorite announcers is music to my ears.
This exhibit at the Legion of Honor just opened and my friend Susan (who lives up in Davis) and I felt great appreciation to see it yesterday before the crowds descend. Susan had met Mr. Thiebaud (who used to live in Sacramento) and we were both a bit overwhelmed by the depth and diversity of his work. He painted way more than the desserts he is so famous for. A very good Sunday for sure!
The Studio is Seth Rogen's salute to Hollywood and he is on all the talk programs and the series is supposed to be hilarious, and it is sort of amusing and of course fun to see all the stars misbehaving. I seldom laugh out loud when I'm supposed to at these don't-miss television spectaculars and this was no exception. But I will probably watch it some more on Apple TV. Maybe.
My friend Terri and one of my neighbors are quilters and I have always admired this artistic talent. So I bought a ticket to the SF Quilt Show yesterday that was held at St. Mary's Cathedral. I had a delightful couple of hours and I was so impressed with all the glorious work. The artist for the crossword puzzle piece (top photo) was there explaining all the meaningful and personal details of her work. Yes, I am very happy that I went yesterday.
I know, I know - everything is on my iPhone and yet I like hard copies of everything. So that file folder is stuffed with all sorts of crap that I probably won't need. The British Airway plane leaves two weeks from today and I'm still working on the endless To Do List. And no, I have not done much research and yes, I forgive myself for that. Emma's Room has become a staging area where I hang "shall I take this?" clothes and accessories. Handy. Oh, Passport. Take that downstairs now. OK, will do.
Our Giants had the best record in Spring Training ~ imagine that! It is going to be a good season, or so most experts are predicting. Today we are in Cincinnati, how lovely to have baseball on radio and tv now instead of listening to Trump horrors, lies and cover-ups. Play ball...
We meet six spies at this posh dinner party in London. Of course I approved of that. Cate Blanchett, Michael Fassbender, Tom Burke and Pierce Brosnan were all quite wonderful in Black Bag which Amy and I saw yesterday at the Alamo. Yes, an excellent film. Enjoy.
Mark and Chris live in San Luis Obispo and I always enjoy seeing them when they visit SF. Chris and I worked at the museums and have kept in touch so yesterday we had breakfast at Cafe de la Presse. Lots of news and gossip and laughter. A great way to start my day.
Well, none of us LOVED "Orbital" but that book resulted in one of the best discussions ever last night. I served Spring pasta GF soup and the guests brought everything else. Easy. Clean-up continues this morning but now I need to hop downtown again to meet friends from out of town for breakfast. Busy...
Murder in the White House. The Residence is a new comedy mystery on Netflix. Some favorite actors including Jane Curtin, Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad), Uzo Aduba as the birdwatching detective, and Randall Park is the FBI guy. So far a nice escape from real White House drama.
I took a break at the Starbuck's in Macy's to watch them set up for the Free Tulip Event today in Union Square. There was some tech conference in town so the streets were busy with happy young people wearing badges from companies that I've never heard of. I also went to the Apple store and then visited the little currency exchange place for Pounds and Euro's. Checking off the To Do Travel List...
I can't even pretend to understand what happened in Severance last night. Wowza. I will check with "the authorities" online at some point today, but in the meanitime I asked CoPilot about Season 3. Oh oh.
Yes, great news for fans of Severance! Apple TV+ has officially renewed the show for a third season. The announcement came shortly after the release of the Season 2 finale, which left viewers with plenty of intriguing questions. While the exact release date hasn't been revealed yet, the creators have hinted that fans won't have to wait as long as they did between the first two seasons.
Did you say Spring? All the most welcome rain has helped everything and we are enjoying unusual color and floral beauty. I admire the ones who plant bulbs back in Winter and then share the results with their neighbors. Walking this time of year is such a pleasure.
Yesterday afternoon I visited Jeanine and Patout who have traveled extensively to Budapest, Prague and Vienna. Jeanine is an artist and has always been inspired by these historic cities. Their photo albums are well organized and beautiful ~ it was a lovely time and I took notes in my new journal. Preparing..
I've walked by Udupi Palace veggie Indian restaurant many times so finally last night I had my dosa (bottom photo) dinner here with Doug and Barb who are almost regulars. It's right across the street from the Marsh where Jess from our writing group was performing. A very pleasant evening. Next year I will DO St. Pat's dinner again, but too much is going on in 2025. Whoosh.
Check out this beautiful journal with my name in that little white space. This is a gift from Emma and now I will be sure to write during my many travels in 2025. Deep gratitude.
The four to my left were heading to ski in Tahoe and stopped by early for breakfast snacks and plenty of family gossip. Sarah is my step DIL and Samantha's mother ~ visiting from the East Coast. Lots of wedding talk as Luke and Sam will be marrying in June in Chicago. Therein lies another vast amount of planning and of course I will be going and visiting my favorite Art Institute again.
Yes! From my ex-neighbor Lynn who now lives in Puerto Rico. I love this young woman with her curly hair and nose stud. Very much like Lynn and greatly appreciated. This was hand delivered by my neighbor Cristina (Italian) who just returned from visiting our friend in PR. Husbando always called next door The International House of Women ~ he got that right. Right?
In a month I will be in Budapest. Yikes. I have my To Do List going and am chugging along nicely and with only a bit of trepidation. My last three days will be spent in Prague and my friend Pat loaned me this lovely book. I know I will love this city with all the Art Nouveau, beautiful architecture and great walking.
This photo is from Sunday~ a walk around MY park, Precita Park. Even though it is raining today I am way more cheerful because Luis came over yesterday to fix this damn computer and to clean out all the crap that somehow filled all sorts of nooks and crannies. He installed Malware Bites to prevent future problems and he lectured me again on organizing and locking away passwords and so that is a project I am working on today. Luis is a godsend with tons of patience.
Nicole brought a delicious pulled pork dinner last night, complete with salad and sides. I provided cookies and tea. The Apprentice was well worth renting for $6 and we were especially impressed with Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohn and Sebastian Stan as tRump. How this dreadful man became president repulses me. But you already know that...
I hate to admit it, but I am no better at solving computer problems than I was years ago. The nasty Spam attack is causing me fits and starts and so I contacted Luis to visit tomorrow and he will make everything right. Grrrrrrrr.
Oh, hooray, I can stay up until a "decent" hour and sleep in until 6am. I know that about half the population does not agree with me when I celebrate Daylight Saving Time today, but too bad.
Doug and Barb's mailman told them about this delightful restaurant out on Noriega and they picked me up early and we had a great dinner at Dumpling Bites. They travel often and we needed a lot of great catch-up talk time and too much delicious food. Gratitude!
I am not having a party. I am not in a celebratory mood. But I did get hit by a spam email and I'm sorry because it was sent to all sorts of friends (and some enemies) and what a pain in the ass. Do NOT try to open. Do not send me money or gift cards through this email. (But otherwise, hell yes, hahahahaha.) Again, do not open an email from me with the subject line "You're warmly invited to my Party!" Argh. Sorry again...
I am so fortunate to live in a state with mostly Democratic representatives. So yesterday I wrote and mailed letters to nine (are there more?) GOP Representatives here in California. My focus was to let them know that I support President Zelensky and the people of Ukraine. Next I will write ten Republican Senators and I plan to tell them how beautifully Social Security and Medicare work for me and for all the senior citizens that I know. Stay involved!
Getting there was half (maybe more?) the fun as I took a ferry from SF to meet Gini, Mad Rose and Helene at Farm Shop for lunch yesterday. I was early and had a latte at the Rustic Bakery, then hit the bookstore and I just had a delightful time roaming about until my friends arrived. Lunch was delicious and it was a very good day, albeit a rather grey one.
Last night I streamed Flow on HBO Max and even though not a word was spoken, I stayed wide awake during this delightful animated film that was nominated for an Oscar. Thumbs up from this sort of reviewer and movie lover.
Well, how about this Blogger seeing Anora the day before the big win? Meredith, Nicole and Heidi squeezed into my tiny back room and we had pizza and salad and Girl Scout cookies with tea, while we oohed and ahhhed at the Oscar Party. Conan O'Brien did a fine job and I actually agreed with most of the choices for winners. I have a few more movies to stream or to enjoy in actual theaters, but I was proud to have seen as many as I did. A fine event, all in all.
